Going into the new year, it is common to consider things we’d like to change or improve. The tradition can be dated back about 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians, who held the first recorded celebrations honoring the new year and making promises to their gods to pay their debts and return borrowed items. Though the kinds of resolutions we make have changed with the times, setting goals for the new year is still a common tradition.
On this, the first day of 2023, I take inspiration from the countless works of art I’ve seen across the state of Texas and beyond to guide my resolutions. I’m sharing them here, as some may resonate with our readers.
A detail from Guadalupe Rosales’ “Drifting on a Memory,” at the Dallas Museum of Art.
1. Take time for self-reflection, personally and professionally.
Installation image of work by Sheryl Anaya.
2. Celebrate your culture and learn about others’.
Carol Ivey, “Stepping Back,” 2018, oil on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.
3. Make your environments beautiful, and appreciate their beauty.
An interactive exhibition featuring silhouettes of artworks that were in storage or on loan at the Musée d’art moderne et d’art contemporain de Nice.
4. Approach challenges with creativity.
Nancy K Fisher, “Seeking Solace,” hand dyeing, hand appliqué, free motion quilting on cotton and linen. On view at LHUCA, Lubbock, July 2022.
5. Find peaceful moments of solitude.
A painting by Aliyah Cydonia. On view at Daisha Board Gallery, Dallas, April 2022.
6. Increase your flexibility, physically and otherwise.
Jack Hoyer, “Solstice Woods,” 2017, oil on linen, 46 x 51 3/4 x 2 inches. On view at the Dallas Art Fair, April 2022.
7. Spend more time in nature.
A performance during the opening reception of “Tina Medina: A Retrospective” at the Latino Cultural Center, Dallas.
8. Step outside your comfort zone. (This is made easier when you have the support of those closest to you.)
Eugène Delacroix, “Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Turban,” 1827. Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., in honor of Patricia McBride. On view in “Afro-Atlantic Histories” at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
9. See familiar people or things in new contexts.
David A. Cook, “Standing Plans,” 1988, acrylic and graphite on paper. On view at the Old Jail Art Center, Albany, August 2022. Gift of Reilly Nail.
10. Step out and go see some (more) art.
